<p>My S has been accepted at Vanderbilt and is seriously considering accepting. We will be visiting again this week-end. He is a serious student but of course likes to have fun. My concern is that the only thing I ever hear anyone say about the school relates to the social life. I know it is highly rated, but I cannot help wondering, are students serious about their studies? I have heard the work hard/play hard story, but is it just a party school for smart kids? He will be majoring in history and will probably end up in law school.</p>
<p>I don’t know who you have been talking to, but Vanderbilt is not “just a party school for smart kids”.</p>
<p>Your post is a bit ironic, since Vanderbilt is often accused–on this web site–of having too many students headed for professional programs like law and medicine. The premed students do well, the prelaw students do well. If my son is an example, the engineering/computer science students do well. My son and his friends are very serious students. They came in that way, they stayed that way, they are leaving that way.</p>
<p>Thanks Midmo. I didn’t mean to be insulting. We had just returned from a local event for admitted students and it seemed that the whole focus of the alumni was on the party life. Lots of the threads seemed that way as well although I have seen the threads on the pre-professional studies that you mentioned.</p>
<p>My D is a very serious student with grades to match. She has lots of very serious student friends. </p>
<p>MANY Vandy grads go to top law & med schools … you can’t accomplish that without being a serious student (or an extraordinary genius).</p>
<p>I have two sons at Vanderbilt and they both work hard as does everybody we have met there. I think there is an conscious effort to balance work and down time more so than some other schools. Having said this, every student we have met takes there work and course load very seriously. You and your son should visit and get a feel for the school. Best of luck.</p>
<p>Our son’s experience has been very rich academically…way more demanding than high school and I thought he worked too hard in high school. Vandy is a school that really is best for self-starters who are very motivated and all of the kids I have met are ambitious and focused learners. My son didn’t come from a strong high school and he relies on his peers as examples in some aspects of how he learned to find his way in classrooms of all top students. The freshman experience has some built in segments that are more nurturing re freshman seminars, access to faculty in the Residential Colleges on the Commons but reality is that you have to hit the ground running to maintain good grades. There really is no bottom quartile in the classroom and no easy way to make high grades so you have to run your own race. Our son had to really step up his study skills. That and learn to manage the high stimulation of all the options every hour of each day that you find on a larger research based campus like Vandy. These options are broadly social, yes, but also there are options every night and every day to hear extra lectures and to attend cultural events that are pretty amazing. He is one of the over 60% males who are not Greek and there are plenty of discussions on this board on the life of independents at Vandy who chart their own course for their social evenings and outings. I have a friend whose daughter was just admitted and she did notice the difference between the alum and the current student body in terms of how the college experience and national footprint re geographic origins of students have altered in just the last five years. They are from a city that has thousands of Vandy alum in it so there just is a big change at Vanderbilt, although it was always a great place to get an education. I have been pleasantly surprised at the numbers of ways our son has had access to faculty for support as we had at first focused on liberal arts colleges for him. It is a warm campus with a mix of big school small school strengths. Good luck as your son makes his final choice!</p>
<p>Thanks, everyone, for taking the time to respond. We are headed to Nashville tomorrow morning (through the storms) for one last look. Your responses were very helpful.</p>
<p>213, I obviously don’t post here much, but read this site fairly often. Speaking as a history major at Vanderbilt 30 years ago who went to law school, I enjoyed fraternity life there but certainly took my studies seriously, as did many others. The Vandy kids of my generation and more recent ones whom I know have done well in major law firms. Perhaps more importantly, my S is a graduating senior who has enjoyed the fraternity life, but always kept his eye on the ball about school. He has done well, but only througrh a lot of hard work. I would echo the other posters about the atmosphere; I don’t think you or your S would be disappointed on that score, if the school is otherwise a good fit. Good luck on your visit and to him on his college choice.</p>
<p>2135ar, you will be there during Rites of Spring … you can walk around near Alumni Lawn & hear the bands in late afternoon and evening!</p>